I beg to differ on one of your insights. That Genesis was ‘grammar’. Yes, maybe post gabriel. But the Lamb, the Lamb was all that anyone could conjure and than…a million miles further. It can still stand proud today. It was years before its time, its probably so many, oh so so many just didn’t quite understand the force of a brilliant Ll. That’s how I owned mine, and even in this digital age (I have a cd quality version), but its unique press in the glory that is vinyl. They pioneered something before the critics had an explanation. So, I differ on your assessment of ‘grammar’ …to me it was one of the masters, a legion – unmatched and still so complete that if you spun it right now and clicked on the ‘repeat’ function. It could easily be the backdrop of forever. That’s what P=A does for do many of us. It can be left on to continue. There would be no end in sight or sound. Time itself takes on a new meaning. So again, ‘grammar’ – no. Masterwork – indeed. I would really like your insight on Floyd and The Who since your telling tales and metaphoracal comparisons of time long past. And how do you consider the church fits into the fray. I would explain you as the ‘ ones who got away, once at our doorsteps, than we were tricked by men behind the curtain, that your moment of shine outlasted its time. Now…we…are left to convince all we encounter that your still here/there/everywhere yet no one wants us to stand the ground. They’ve been trying to bury you since 1988, but we will never let them find the shovel. You belong with us, against all description, till you decide- your terms that your history will be written. And fuck, not anytime soon. Because if you can paint U23, than many more genius works of art still exist. Please let it be known that the follow-up is just a mere moment away. We’ve been here this long. We will be here tomorrow because there is no end in sight.

….post gabriel my eye…there was such beautiful music written post gabriel ..such an overblown assumption and how vague ..trick of the tail and wind and wuthering were both “post gabriel”and both are gorgeous…and what about gabriel “post Genesis” shock the monkey.? really …big time ….really ..sakes alive man …

The band was formed in 1967 when Gabriel and Rutherford were 17 years of age. That would make them in High School -not grammar school-, probably their senior year (both were born in 1950). Again, this is my opinion. I do not rant onto other peoples opinions, so please do not on mine. I do agree that there were some excellent work by Genesis when Gabriel left. But it was not the same in MY opinion. Gabriel’s solo career has been fantastic. You make fun of one of his songs from 1982 (The album that the song is on) went Gold in different countries and even Platinum in the great white north. Yeah , we can continue to argue this point but why??? I , like you, am entitled to an opinion and if everything you or I write will be scrutinized in the future…what is the point. Do you want to have at it on every topic that comes across this site? I have read all your comments, some I agree with, some I don’t. But I keep that to myself. Arguing music is like arguing sports. Everyone has their favorite this or that and no one can tell them otherwise. You stated that MY opinion is an ‘overblown assumption and vague’. I didn’t pick this indifference…you did.

….he thought he recognized him by the way he walked , and by the way he …stood up and vanished into the air…pure gold {in at least three countries) anyway everyone knows.. never mess with a Genesis fan from Philly..we wont hear it ..NaCl

SK – get out on the road, man. just check out Bob’s summer dates – he is seventy, but his karma is young – he will incarnate again and again and again – push it forward, and bring it back to the states – we want to hear it live – a fan, wilfred paradise

Yeah, Bolan and Morrison, two cats who combined music, poetry, theater and the otherworld(s)…I guess one criterion for truly great music/musicians is that no-one ever managed to emulate them, there’s never been a band since that sounded anything like the Doors or the earlier Bolan, these cats came fron outta nowhere, lit up the skies and then disappeared from view forever…Any old fool can copy the Madonnas and the Robbie Williams’, but they ain’t never gonna grow a beard of stars!

It’s good 2 attribute your influences, past loves, but what you & other brilliant ‘uns come out with is completely unique & different…no-one else can really take credit for that, your own particular contribution/combination. That’s what I love. Bolan doesn’t have Your soul memories, or Your emotional make-up around these. You know?
Anyway, rock ‘n roll does help give me another experience of ‘God’, thanks 4 that.
As 4 the sex & drugs excess…..I dunno. Maybe those things erode the very beauty & truth that gave rise to the magickal rock ‘n roll in the 1st place. There’s so many ways to ‘open the chakras’. Better ways, dare i say. You seem to experiment with all of the ways! It’s interesting 2 see ~ alot of us care about you & don’t want u to fall from beauty & truth, ever. “Some things bring u closer to inner truth, harmony, enlightenment, while other things simply don’t”. And it can be real subtle, as u well know.
So be careful. There’s still more learning, more growth, more ways 4 you to ‘get it’. More light, more love….yes, even more love. And not in the ‘disillusionist, below the belt’ kind of sense…if u get my drift(!!!) But yes, the light does indeed still pour out of you, for you are who you are, ever since you were born you have been this ‘one’. Your name even means ‘crowned one’…
Now for some ‘rock ‘n roll’ questions, which i’ve been burning to ask for at least a year…
1. What green, lush valley is in the video to “It’s No Reason”? (I wonder?)
2. Where was the church, the spire of which is in the video to “Tear It All Away”? (‘Cause it looks exactly like the one about a block from where i lived in St Kilda)
Apols 4 asking these here ~ might be quicker than wading through one of the fan sites?

yes, you nailed it. it’s funny as i thought of you today, i was recording a song and thinking how much i love this process, it’s something i just love doing, being in a studio and being creative expressing myself and i found my thoughts wandering all over the shop and then i thought how much you respect and love bolan, thinking it’s the way i feel about your music and words, and how weird that must seem to you who looks up to bolan possibly not realising you are kinda that to others. i don’t really know what i’m trying to say actually, when i started writing i knew what i wanted to say but i have a wandering mind. it’s something to do with what drove bob dylan to seek out woody guthrie, or something along those lines i think. in the days before social networks, he hitched and jumped trains and crossed states, to see woody because he had to some how connect with his inspiration, anyway’s yeah, i think you really nailed it sir.

But, we must comment on a delicious irony. Perhaps most of you are unaware, but back in the days – the 50’s, 60’s, when rock first really raged, there was a backlash from the McCarthy idiots.

While we agree with the lofty effects of good rock, the opening of chi meridians, reforming of neuron connections, and making of the deep surface of the forehead all nice and mellow – some saw it quite differently.

Our father was a U.S. Army colonel – in Germany during WWII. Smoking camels and drinking hard whiskey and vodka (which indeed eventually killed him), he and his cohorts believed the following:

Rock’N’Roll was a Communist plot. Teenagers would get all hopped up listening to it, rub bear grease on their naked bodies, dance around a fire, and then axe and club their parents to death. I shit you not–these were the EXACT words.

We were not allowed to listen to Rock’N’Roll in our house, and felt our mortal souls were endangered when we heard it on the outside. Sigh.

We should note that same father also played a saxaphone in a jazz band later on. Rock No, jazz Si?

There’s got to be some kind of lesson on how opposite the perceptions of the same thing can be, and with such deep feeling on both ends of the spectrum.

rock can be as ubiquitous as the sun or as intimate as a heartbeat.
as you so eloquently share, “it sets the scene for an epiphany”
for me, it was genesis and, in particluar, supper’s ready. every day after school or work I’d immerse myself in the 20 some-odd minutes and muse over the jumbled biblical imagery… and when gabriel cried for the new jerusalem, i believed it… and now, 40 years later, I still do.

1972- what an incredible song on a brilliant masterpiece ‘Foxtrot’ , to think that those gents were in there early 20’s and created that along with ‘lamb…’ just 2 years later is astonishing. I play those early tracks for my 20 year old and he sits in awe. Great choice of music my friend, I always spin the Lamb when I want to be transported away. I saw the last Genesis tour here in the states and I walked away confused. I know many bands try to relive and retell the past but without Peter, it didn’t work for me.

Rock to me has always meant freedom and inclusion. People went crazy for the Beatles, I think, because they held the keys to their prison. Bolan didn’t have much of an impact in Baltimore in the 70’s when I was first into music, but I also loved music that transported me to wonderful and magical places. I liked Yes and Genesis and Bowie. And, of course, now I like your music for pretty much the same reasons.

Rock n roll is the one thing I can’t do without, and you’ve just beautifully illustrated why. More than anything else, music has been a constant consolation & companion, no matter what I’ve been through. Thanks SK. Lovely piece. And what a wonderful title.

everyday, i pass by you on your ivy wrapped veranda….fast asleep amongst the gardenias n jasmines….remember the confederate jasmine sent to you by lady di after you rescued her bathing- top free floating at the bergs. beautiful place it is

why thank you thats a compliment from the prettiest professor extant…hmmm marlowe…the alchemist…yes …well maybe i was dante then marlowe then me
(with maybe i dunno thoreau or someone in between….(of course i am joking))

It’s easy to see why musicians are worshiped: They sing to us of the most intimate things and they seem to know what’s in our hearts. Their voices become as familiar to us as our own husbands’ or wives’. They express what we had no ability to express, going beyond words. They rescue us from our misery, like knights in shining armor, and we are forever in their debt. Musicians offer a gift which has the power to heal us, motivate us, encourage us, and totally take us out of our repressed selves. It has the ability to connect us to people that we would otherwise never feel connected to, or it can make our connections to others stronger. Few things are as spiritual.

I think I exaggerate here, but not really. Anyway, rock n’ roll is a gift from above.

Loved your blog today, Steve. Liked the part about using a blueprint to write songs. Kind of like writing advice. Hope you’re having a great day!! Donna

it has to be about the music and words
yesterday i went to get some ink for my printer, just some ink
but there were all those signs again, the same as on most days now
as i waited at the lights i looked to the right and the billboard said
‘church has changed’
god give me a break, just for one day, this cosmic joke isn’t funny anymore
i turned to the other side and there was an answer
‘re- creation’ staring back at me
ok, i’m recreating myself but your signs are making me tired
on the way back i stopped to buy some rice, just some rice
and as i parked my car, there in front of me was ‘harry’s on church’
and it was only this morning that i realised as i pulled up again,
in the same space that opens up each time,
that my food for the next two months will be bought on church street
and as i walked around the supermarket it came all in rush
in all this synchronicity, so intense but in a dream
i remembered these transformative times
that come around so rarely when the planets align
and everything is a coincidence and everything burns with meaning
and the world has turned into an altered state of symbols
but if you went out looking for a sign you’d never find a one
i could feel the tears coming with the epiphany,
not a great look at the checkout in coles…
and when i walked back down church street and got back into my car
what are the chances
i turned on the radio and david bowie came on singing
‘time may change me but i can’t trace time’…
this year is thirty years since my mother died
and it was the music of that time (and books) that saved me, as it had before, from all that was rotten and sad in that rotten old family
the first church album would have come out around the same time
and there is something entwined about that that i don’t really understand
music was the safest drug i ingested as a teenager and i guess it was my mother, my father, my lover, and my god
and in these last few months the music is again filling my mind
and breaking my heart and unfreezing my yearnings
and it’s the music and words that are waking me again
and it’s the music and words now taking the best stuff in me and recombining it, rewiring it, trying to work with the worst in me, creating my next future
and it’s all a bit of a revelation right now and i’m just going to let the tears come

growing up in Canberra my mother’s life was destroyed by the other kind of church, maybe I will be resurrected by a more poetic and melodious church now…
But I’m not yet brave enough to go down that Kilby Road in Kew when I pass it by sometimes…I’ll have to work up to that one.

Your comment touched an emotional chord with me. I do try to be respectful of others’ religious beliefs, but somehow religion does seem to be deeply destructive, doesn’t it? Based on the assumption that we are guilty until proven innocent, and that will never happen.

Aw, there’s nothin’ to be scared about with Kilby Rd…my school bus used to go past it…it’s pretty, there’s paddocks down the end somewhere. And no, I didn’t especially ‘search it out’ (unlike Starling St ~ towards the end of it’s heyday ~ all i saw were some towering red poppies & thought “this must be the place!”, then quickly disappeared from there 4 fear of being found out!!!)
Don’t worry, Steve, I don’t wish to ever stalk you again!!! Promise.

It has been said that we cannot reach the full capacity of our intellectual powers until at least mid-life. This entry and the one a couple of days ago certainly are achieving that. Katabasis without the crisis. And even further confirmation you are absolutely perfect for the role. Exciting stuff.